Emeralds
by Rozetto B
Summary: It started with getting lost, a nervous glance, a quick passing. He followed her home and was hooked... as was she. R
1. Chapter 1

Emeralds

It was dark out and Aerith knew she shouldn't be out alone. The slums were dangerous during the day, more so at night. Not only was it dark out, Aerith was a little lost. She wandered around, looking for some landmark or something she recognized. Finally, her surroundings became more familiar. When she was about five minutes from home, she saw a man. A Turk, actually. A Turk with bright red hair, to be more specific.

_He's kind of messy looking for a Turk… but I suppose there's no mistaking the blue suit. Maybe he'll just ignore me._

With that thought, Aerith continued to walk, past the man.

----

Reno lit another cigarette and leaned back against the wall. What a boring night, I've been standing here for how long? Not a single fight. No excitement. Isn't it supposed to be a dangerous area here? He sighed. _Maybe I'll just go somewhere… what's that?_

Reno heard footsteps approaching him. He reached for his electro-rod, which was leaning against the wall beside him. To his surprise, it wasn't some drunks looking for a fight. It was a young woman carrying a basket of flowers. She looked nervous and was walking fast. Reno, being the guy he is, couldn't help but check her out as she hurried past. Grinning, he followed her.

----

_Oh god, he's following me. Maybe I should just ignore him. If he's still behind me when I get home, I'll… I'll deal with it then._

When she had reached the door, she turned around to see the Turk grinning at her.

"Why are you following me?" she demanded, hoping to sound more confident than she felt.

The Turk continued to grin at her, and replied, "Wanted to make sure you got home alright, gorgeous." He reached into her basket and pulled out a flower, smelling it. "Name's Reno. Maybe you'd be kind enough to lend me some shelter for the night." He offered the flower back to Aerith, still with the ridiculous grin on his face.

Aerith thought about what the Turk, Reno, had just said. Realizing what he was suggesting, she swung her basket at his head. Reno was caught totally off-guard and the basket hit him, hard. He blacked out but not before seeing the look of shock on the flower girl's face.

----

When Reno awoke, he had no idea where he was. It certainly wasn't his apartment, too clean. He saw a vase with a few flowers sitting on a small table in the room. Suddenly, the events from last night resurfaced in his mind. He tried to sit up, but the room started to spin and he fell back down onto the bed.

"Shit… she must've hit me hard…" he mumbled to himself.

"How're you feeling?"

Reno nearly jumped off the bed at the sound of the quiet voice. He looked over at the door, the woman from the night before was standing there with a basin of water and a small cloth.

"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to hit you so hard… I wanted you to leave me alone." She put the basin down on a table next to the bed and dipped the cloth in. Wringing the excess water out, she placed it gently on Reno's forehead. "I wouldn't try getting up for a bit. I think I hit you pretty hard."

"Yeah, wasn't expecting it," he muttered. "Don't you have some healing material around?"

"Sorry, Mr. … uh…"

"Reno. Just Reno." He went to get some material out of the hidden pocket in his jacket, only to find he wasn't wearing it. "Where's my jacket?"

"Oh, I hung it up to dry, you fell in a puddle."

"Oh… you didn't have to bring me in here, you know."

"I felt bad."

Reno sighed. "There's a hidden pocket in the lining of my jacket. There's probably some material in there."

Aerith nodded, then, realizing Reno's eyes were closed she said, "Okay, I'll go get it." When she returned with the jacket, she reaching into the pocket and pulled out the green ball of material. She walked over and handed it to Reno.

"Thanks babe."

At that comment, Aerith almost hit him again, but remembered he was already injured thanks to her. Instead, she said, "Aerith, my name's Aerith."

"Aerith…" Reno muttered. "You know, a girl as pretty as you shouldn't have been wandering the slums alone, especially at night."

"I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, I noticed." Reno's trademark grin crept across his face. "But you must have liked me a little, you did bring me in here after all."

Aerith huffed. "Feeling better, then?"

"Why, yes, I am."

"Shouldn't go to work then?"

"Nah. Tseng and Elena are with Rufus. He's in Costa del Sol, I believe. If anything serious happens, Rude'll give me a call."

"Oh… um… okay…"

"So, how 'bout I take you out for lunch or something. It's the least I could do after you brought me in. Although, the most I could do…"

"Lunch is fine," Aerith replied quickly, seeing where he was going.

Reno laughed and stood up. "Great! Let's go." He grabbed his jacket from her and headed for the door.

* * *

AN: Alrighty, so, what do you think? This story was inspired by Nanami. She and her friend recently went to a con dressed as Aerith and Reno. They went on stage and did a skit, involving Reno hitting on Aerith and Aerith hitting Reno with her basket. I decided that it was such an awesome story waiting to be written. The chapters will be short, and the story probably won't be too long. Anyway, I love obscure pairings and this one was just too prefect. 


	2. Chapter 2

Emeralds 

Aerith's cheerful laughter filled the air of the small delicatessen. Reno had just finished telling her about one of the many times he'd messed with Tseng's coffee.

_Wow, her smile lights up her whole face,_ Reno thought as he watched her. _Absolutely gorgeous._

After lunch had been eaten, and laughter subsided, Reno and Aerith spent the rest of the day together. Once night had fallen, Reno walked Aerith home. When the reached the door, Aerith turned around so her back was to the door.

"Well, Reno, thank you for the wonderful day and walking me home."

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked with his trademark grin.

"Reno! Didn't we just meet?"

Reno chuckled, leaned forward and kissed her delicately. Aerith blinked, a little surprised. When Reno pulled away, he was still grinning.

"G'night Aerith." He turned to leave but decided against it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ball of green material. "Here," he said, tossing the ball the her, "For the next time you knock some random guy out." With that, he left, heading for his apartment.

Aerith looked at the material in her hand. "Reno…"

----

The next day, Aerith went about her usual business. She wandered around, selling flowers, smiling at everyone who would look. The only difference about today was that she had the ball of green material carefully put up at the top of her braid. A brighter smile than usual adorned her face. She was exited about the night. She had a feeling she'd be seeing a certain red-haired Turk.

----

"Reno! Are you listening?"

Reno blinked then looked down at the phone in his hand. Sighing, he said, "Sorry, Tseng, sir. Tomorrow morning, airport, make sure me and Rude show. Got it."

"Good, don't be late," Tseng said, hanging up abruptly.

"Prick…" Reno muttered to himself. "You hear that, Rude?"

"Airport, tomorrow morning," his partner called back.

"God, I need a drink… too much paperwork make's Reno grumpy…" Reno murmured to himself. Rude? I'm leaving, see you tomorrow."

Rude stuck his head out of his office door. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just need a drink."

Rude rolled his eyes and disappeared into his office.

----

The sunny smile had long since faded from Aerith's face. It had been dark for some time now, and still no sign of the sloppy Turk.

_Maybe I was wrong… my hunches aren't always right… maybe I won't see him again…_

Just as those thoughts had passed through her mind, crushing all hope, a bright haired drunk stumbled out of a bar.

"Reno?" she called out to him.

The man looked over at her with a look of confusion on his face.

Aerith recognized him immediately and ran over.

"Aerith…?"

She nodded and said, "I knew I'd see you again."

"Really, I thought I'd never see you again…" he slurred.

"God, you're really drunk… come with me," she said, leading him in the direction of her place.

----

Aerith and Reno eventually made back to her place. Once in the room, she pushes him onto the bed.

"Wow, you want me bad, don't ya, Aer."

"Just sleep, you idiot."

"Where are you gonna sleep?"

"I have a sleeping bag somewhere… I think…" she replied, turning to look for it.

"Sleep with me."

Aerith looked at Reno in shock. _Did he just…? But he sounded totally sober… but why shouldn't I? It's not like I'd let him try anything…_

"Aerith?"

The sound of her name snapped her out of her thoughts/ "Well… okay… but no funny stuff."

"Woohoo! I get to sleep with Aerith!"

"Ug, only if you calm down and actually _sleep_."

"Okay, okay, deal."

Aerith slipped into the bed and Reno immediately wrapped an arm around her. Aerith was little unsure at first, but decided it _was _kind of nice. She snuggled closer to him, causing Reno's trademark smirk to appear on his face.

_Who knew me getting drunk was the way to get her in bed…oh well._ "'Night, Aer."

"Mmm…" Aerith responded, already half asleep.

----

AN: Well, there you have it. Chapter two. I don't think I'll have time to get three up before the wedding, but who knows. Eleven days from now I'll be married… oh my god… scary… but awesome! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Emeralds 

The next morning, Aerith woke up with Reno's arm still wrapped around her. She was just going to slip out quietly but found he had a very tight grip on her.

"Reno?" she whispered.

He was unresponsive; still asleep.

At least, she thought he was… until his grip tightened.

"Reno! Let me go."

He chuckled quietly and grinned, leaving his eyes closed.

"Reno!"

"Mmm… how 'bout no? Come on, I got you in bed with me, do you think I'd let you go so easily?" he asked, finally opening his eyes to look at her.

"Reno, if you don't let me go this inst– mmph!"

Aerith was cut short as Reno kissed her. She struggled at first but eventually just gave in. It wasn't _that_ bad. When both parties realized it was necessary to breath, Reno spoke:

"See, told you I wasn't that bad."

Aerith glared at him.

"What? I know you enjoyed that."

She sighed and looked away from him, her eyes looking downward towards his chest. "Yeah… I guess I did," she murmured.

"Wait? What was that? Did you just agree with me?"

"…"

"You did! Yus!"

"Shut up…" she said into his chest.

He hugged her closer and grinned. "I knew I'd get you to fall for me!"

She snuggled closer to him and smiled. "Yeah… guess I did fall for you."

----

"Where's Reno?"

"He… uh… he's not here, sir."

"I know that, but where is he?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Elena!"

"Yes sir?"

"We're taking President Rufus back to Shinra, is the car ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Rude?"

"Yes sir?"

"Find Reno."

"Yes, sir."

----

"Isn't that your phone?"

"No… well, yeah, but who cares?"

"Answer it, it might be important!"

Reno groaned and rolled off the bed. He stood up then walked over to where Aerith had left his jacket the night before. Pulling the phone out, he flipped it open and said, "The fuck do you want?"

"_Reno! Tseng, Elena and the President were all waiting here for us. Where the hell were you?"_

"Rude?"

"_Yes?"_

"Did it ever occur to you that I might be busy?"

"_You have no life."_

"Yeah, yeah… what do you want?"

"_Tseng wants me to find you and drag your ass over to headquarters."_

"Right… I'll meet you outside HQ in 20 minutes, 'kay?"

"_Fine."_

Reno clicked off the phone and dropped it back into his pocket. "I gotta go. But if you want I can possibly come back tonight… dunno though, Tseng'll probably shoot me before then." He chuckled to himself. "See ya!" With that, he put on his jacket and walked out the door.

----

AN: And there we go. Kinda short… but whatever. It's up… just be happy I posted at all…


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